In the Beginning or Being a Better Person

This week the study of Torah starts all the way over and takes us back to Genesis or as it's known in Judaism as Bereshit. Starting this week I am planning on writing a "Shabbat Thought" about that weeks Parsha (portion) and posting it on Friday. I will be using the biblical text, however I will be painting my thoughts with a much broader brush stroke. The lessons are Universal. Even if you aren't religious I believe you can take something wonderful away from what I write, and I hope it gives you something to think about too.

Genesis. Creation of the world. The fall of man. All of this and more are covered in the first Torah portion Bereshit, which means "in the beginning." Almost every civilization contains a creation story, and ours has shaped large portions of history and the world. Today though I want to focus on one sentence.

Our scene opens in the garden. We find the man and woman hiding among the trees. They hear the sound of God moving. And then God calls out, "Where are you?"

Hold on. What? Are you going to tell me that an all knowing, all seeing God doesn't know where the man and woman are? I don't buy it. It makes no sense. There must be another meaning underneath. Another layer.

A commentary on this verse in the Stone Edition of the Tanach poses that God's question what meant to open a dialog with the hope that Adam would be repentant. A second commentary in Etz Hayim states God asks the question, "Where are you?," so that Adam might turn inward and ask himself, "Where am I in relation to God?" What God is really asking is, "Have you changed? Do you regret what you did?"

If we move forward in time to the story of Cain and Abel, in Genesis 4:9 we find God posing a very similar question to Cain. "Where is Abel your brother?" Again it appears that God is giving Cain the ability to seek repentance and come clean. And like his father before him, Cain takes a different path.

We all do things that are wrong and harmful to ourselves and others. There are many ways to handle our mistakes. We can step up and admit what we did, or we can make excuses, blame, or attempt to lie our way out of it. The choice is always ours.

The choice is always ours. In the story God is calling out, but today it's our conscious or our partner or our friend calling us to see our mistakes and make them right. We can ask ourselves, where am I? Where am I in relation to others? Did I make a mistakes? Do I regret what I did? How can I change? How can I make it right? What is my part in all of this? How can I be a better person?

Much like God gave Adam and Cain the opportunity to turn and admit their wrongs in both stories, we are given many opportunities to get it right. We can always try again.  All we have to do is make the choice. We can always begin again if we are willing. And that is the lesson here in Bereshit..."In the beginning..." again and again.

Turning and Repenting or Take a Look at Yourself

Yom Kippur starts tonight at sundown. The Day of Attonment. The holiest day of the Jewish year. It is a day of reflection, a day of repenting. It sounds so doom and gloom right? I mean, just check out the picture above. It feels a little omminous. I don't see it that way at all. I love it and find it inspirational. I have spent the week meditating on different reading for Yom Kippur. A few a day to give me focus. Readings to connect me with what I feel is the true meaning of this day. I want to share a bit with you today.

All of the excerpts that I am going to share today come from a great little book, Yom Kippur Readings edited by Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins. The essays are short. There is poetry as well. It's a beautiful compilation that I highly recommend.

Teshuvah, literally return, is the Hebrew word used for repentance. In repenting we are turning from our sins and mistakes and turning back towards G-d. To be forgiven we must earnestly turn and change our behavior. We must mean it. We have to recognize the wrongs in ourselves, and be willing to go a different way. To choose a different path.

I see atonement as "at-one-ment." Becoming One with G-d, the Universe, what ever you feel comfortable calling it. We turn towards something greater than ourselves and seek a connection. We seek to become one with all that is, was, and is to come. As we turn inward we seek to find our place in the great scheme of things. We seek to better ourselves.

Plotinus a 3rd century philosopher said, "Withdraw into yourself and if you do not like what you see, act as a sculptor. Cut away here, smooth there, make this line lighter, this one purer. Never cease carving until there shines out from you the Godlike sphere of character." Life is a never ceasing molding of self, hopefully into a better person. Introspection is paramount. Yom Kippur is the perfect time to do this. Analyzing our behavior in the previous year. Where have we wronged someone else? Where can we ask forgiveness? Where can we forgive ourselves? Where can we forgive others?
Yom Kippur for me is all about recognizing our faults, and finding both the willingness and ability to choose another direction. How can we course correct?

From Rabbi Peter Tarlow. "To examine the totality of one's life, to realize that all of us are fallible means that we must not only demand that we improve but be willing to demand that we forgive others who seek to improve." The realization that we are doing the best we can in any given moment also means we must recognize that others are doing the best they can too. We are no better. We are no more worthy of forgiveness. If we are earnestly trying to better ourselves than we must also give the other person the benefit of the doubt. We must demand a forgiving heart in ourselves.

 I want to end with a writing from Rabbi Rami Shapiro.

Bold, Humble, Daring

Today we stand before the Mirror of All
to see ourselves as we are.
We come with no gifts, no bribes, no illusions or excuses.
We stand without defense and wait to be filled.
What will find us?
Remorse, certainly. so much error and needless pain.
And joy: remembered moments of love and right doing.
We are too complex for single-sided emotions.
And we are too simple to be excused by our complexity.
Let us be bold enough to see,
humble enough to feel,
daring enough to turn and
embrace the way of justice, mercy, and simplicity.

May this be a time of self reflection and self correction. May you ask good questions, and have better answers.  Here's to another year. G'mar Hatimah Tovah! May you be sealed for a good year in the Book of Life.

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